1. Field of Endeavor
The present invention relates to optical parametric chirped pulse amplification and more particularly to a hybrid chirped pulse amplification system.
2. State of Technology
U.S. Pat. No. 5,400,350 for a method and apparatus for generating high energy ultrashort pulses to Almantas Galvanauskas, issued Mar. 21, 1995 provides the following background information, “Both semiconductor sources (e.g., diode) and fiber sources are known which can produce ultrashort energy pulses having sub-picosecond pulse durations. Although these energy sources can provide reliable, robust operation in a compact, cost-effective manner, their inability to produce pulse energies comparable to those of large frame solid-state sources has limited their practical use.”
U.S. Pat. No. 2002/0001321 for an ultrashort-pulse laser machining system employing a parametric amplifier to Michael D. Perry, published Jan. 3, 2002 provides the following background information, “Bulk optical parametric amplifiers have not been considered to date for moderate to high average power, ultrashort-pulse applications. The present optical parametric amplifier system does not rely on quasi-phase matching and can achieve both high average power and high gain for broad bandwidth chirped-pulses from a single or double stage system. By relying on parametric conversion rather than conventional laser amplification, there is no residual energy left within the gain medium. As a result, there are negligible thermal gradients and hence, one eliminates the depolarization and beam distortion problems that severely impact the beam quality and electrical to optical conversion efficiency of high average power ultrashort-pulse lasers. In addition to eliminating many of the thermal management problems associated with the high gain amplifier, the use of a parametric amplifier enables the production of the necessary ultrashort duration pulses from a simplified and more compact system. The pulses exiting the parametric amplifier may be compressed directly and used for machining or surgery or may be further amplified in a conventional laser amplifier to provide additional pulse energy before compression.”